Keeping Your iPad Up-To-Date

Pros/Cons of Updates

Just as with our Macs and Chromebooks, iPads require periodic updating to:

- Add new features

- Install the most recent security protections

- Fix bugs (ie make apps work better, improve battery life, etc)

In addition to the benefits above, updates do have some occasional downsides:

- New bugs (ie some apps work worse than before)

- Instability/crashing & decreased battery life

- On very rare occasions, updates can cause issues with the management system (adding apps, breaking settings with Apple Classroom & Schoolwork, etc)

Update Guidelines

Given the above, updating requires a measure of pragmatic patience. What this means exactly differs a bit depending on the type of device involved:

Staff Devices

When updates will appear: As soon as they become publicly available.

When to update: This varies teacher-by-teacher. Update right away if you like to run the latest releases and can adapt to bugs that might slightly impact your teaching workflow. Waiting 2 weeks is generally a safe buffer, and 4 weeks is the absolute max you want to wait to apply an update.

Student Devices:

When updates will appear: Two weeks after the update's public release

When to update: Unless you've been instructed otherwise, updates should be applied the next time the iPad won't be needed for about 30 minutes (at home, connected to a charger is always a good call).

Shared Devices:

When updates will appear: Two weeks after the update's public release

When to update: Contact your building HDT for help updating your shared iPads. Because shared devices are usually not paired with individual students, it is often easier for the HDT to roll out the update through the management system.